that does it for this edition of "360." for this edition of "360." thanks for watching. "early start" begins right now. will they break the pledge? some republicans now seem open to the idea of raising taxes in the face of the fiscal cliff. courageous until the end. a former mayor in mexico who fearlessly stood up to the drug cartels found murdered. and face-to-face behind closed doors today, u.n. ambassador susan rice takes on one of her sharpest critics, senator john mccain, over her actions after the benghazi attack. good morning and welcome to "early start," i'm deborah

feyerick in for john berman. >> really nice to have you. >> i'm so glad to be here. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. first, congress back to work, and back to bickering. in just under 35 days, america hits the fiscal cliff. that triggers severe spending cuts and tax hikes. several top republicans are now defying party politics and signaling a willingness to consider increasing tax revenues to get a budget deal done. but when the lame duck senate got back in session yesterday it sure sounded like the same old broken record. >> the senate has spoken. president obama has spoken. he's promising he will not sign any bill that mortgages our future to pay for handouts to the wealthiest 2% of americans. i only hope house republicans have been listening. >> we've been responsible, even as we've remained firm on this point. no tax increases now for promised spending cuts that won't materialize later. >> cnn political director mark

preston is live from washington this morning. very nice to see you, mark. so the house is back in session today, and so far there are no talks scheduled between top republicans and the president, we understand. >> no, that's true, zoraida. in fact we haven't seen the congressional leadership and president obama meet since november 16th. now there were staff discussions over the thanksgiving holiday. they don't seem to be as productive as some people had hoped, as you said, we are now 35 days until the fiscal cliff. what we do know, though, is that president obama did reach out to house speaker john boehner. he is the republican, the senate majority leader harry reid the democrat over the weekend, perhaps to try to jump-start the talks. as of now, as the house of representatives comes back today, as the senate came back yesterday, we're still very much in limbo on the fiscal cliff. >> here's something else we know. some major republicans have come out and they say that they don't feel bound by the americans for tax reform pledge. most recently we saw house majority leader eric cantor. do you believe more republicans will stick by this?

>> what we're finding out right now zoraida is that there's a little bit of coming to jesus moment about how to fix the fiscal cliff. for republicans perhaps it is going to be higher taxes. for democrats there's going to have to be some changes to entitlement reform. but grover norquist has been really the person pushing this no tax pledge, has been on our airwaves. he's been talking a lot about it. let's hear what he had to say about republicans who might break the pledge. >> no pledge taker has voted for a tax increase. they've had some people discussing impure thoughts on national television. the pledge is not for life. but everybody who signed the pledge, including peter king who tried to weasel out of it, shame on him as the new york sun said today, i hope his wife understands that commitments last a little longer than, than, than two years or something. >> and zoraida, there you have grover norquist -- >> weeks. >> -- of course, from the americans for tax reform throwing out some pretty strong political hyperbole. but the fact of the matter is, as you said, fiscal cliff, 35

days away, and as we've heard from a lot of economists, if congress can't fix this, then we're in a lot of trouble. we can be heading back into recession. >> mark preston live in washington, d.c. thank you for that. so even if democrats and republicans get a spending deal done in time to steer clear of the fiscal cliff, derer thompson says it won't necessarily cure the economy. the senior editor of "the atlantic" joins us live in the next half hour. he has an interesting perspective. ambassador susan rice heads to capitol hill this morning to mend fences with three republican senators. john mccain, lindsey graham and kelly a at with her information comments made on several networks that played down the role of terrorists in the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya, that killed four americans including ambassador chris stevens. rice maintains she made it clear the intelligence information she had at the time was preliminary. senators have threatened to block her nomination if president obama chooses her to be his next secretary of state.

and the obama administration responds to the benghazi attack does not get high marks from americans. the results of a new poll out this morning shows a majority of those questioned, 54%, say they are dissatisfied with the administration's handling of the attack. and the body of yasser arafat was exhumed this morning from a mausoleum in the west bank. a team of international scientists will analyze tissue samples to determine if the former palestinian leader was poisoned to death in 2004, with a radioactive substance. the actual cause of arafat's death has never been determined. the egyptian people taking to the streets to mourn the death of a 16-year-old activist, and to voice their opposition to president mohamed morsi and the muslim brotherhood. this ireport showing protesters as they carried the teenager's casket through tahrir square to a cemetery.

morsi declared the court cannot overturn decisions he has made since coming into office in june. one opponent says it can only lead to a dictatorship. morsi insists that he is trying to protect egypt's fragile arab spring, revolution, not accumulate unchecked power. and if you're traveling through the northeast today, well, you might be dealing with a little bit of snow. meteorologist alexandra steele is in for rob marciano today. what are we looking at, alexandra? >> hey, good morning to you guys. yeah, we are seeing snow, even in new york city. all the big cities, boston, new york, philadelphia, a little snow. not much in the way of accumulation, really along the big cities and the 95 corridor, but still you'll see it come down. kind of get new the christmas spirit. we do have winter weather advisories and we will see accumulati accumulations. want to show you where. here's the radar. the white delynn naturing where the snow potentially is falling. some of it called zerba. starts as snow in the atmosphere but the atmosphere is dry but it

dissipates so we don't see it at the surface. it does moisten the atmosphere to finally deliver some snow. this is the heart of it. scranton, pennsylvania, southeastern pennsylvania, northwestern new jersey, that's where we're going to get into the snow. morristown, new jersey, for example. but, with this line, a lot of energy with it, could see some severe weather. look at birmingham, down toward montgomery, all heading eastward, atlanta, georgia, will be slow go. no question this afternoon at the airport. things will really slow down. jackson all the way down to the gulf coast, new orleans, waiting, looking, watching the skies darken and those clouds lower as they head toward you. so here's the big picture, the purple is where we are seeing winter weather advisories, one to three inches. and you can see right here northwest new jersey, southeastern pennsylvania, that's where really the snow will be, 1 to 3 inches, potentially a stripe of 2 to 4. as we watch it move across, really just a one-day affair. it will be done by tomorrow morning. so there it goes. snow for today. you guys? >> all right, alexandra steele,

thank you. >> yeah. seven minutes past the hour. she was a hero who had actually cheated death before. a brave former mayor in mexico who famously stood up to drug cartels. she was found dead. her story coming up. hey, look! a shooting star! make a wish! i wish we could lie here forever.

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it's embarrassing it's embarrassing! we can see you carl. we can totally see you. come on you're better than this...all that prowling around. yeah, you're the king of the jungle. have you thought about going vegan carl? hahaha!! you know folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than antelope with night-vision goggles. nice! get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. a story of bravery and fearlessness this morning. the blood-soaked drug trafficking wars of mexico. the former mayor of a small town west of mexico city stood up to violent drug traffickers and paid with her life. 36-year-old maria santos gorrostieta had already survived two assassination attempts and witnessed the murder of her husband. two weeks ago while driving with her daughter she was ambushed and abducted. the daily mail reports she begged her assailants to leave her child alone as she was

dragged away. her battered body was found days later along the side of a road. we have more on the story from cnn's senior latin american affairs editor. rafael, good morning. >> good morning, deb. mexico officials say when the mayor was found, her hands were tied behind her back. the body also showed signs of a severe blow to the back of her head. maria santos gorrostieta was the mayor of the small community of tiquicheo from 2008 to 2011. this was the third time she was a victim of attack. a group of armed men started shooting at them and her husband died at the scene. the mother of three would be attacked only three months later in january of 2010, by re-emerged once again as a survivor. after the second attack santos gorrostieta showed mexican media her injuries and told the people of her town she was more determined than ever to work hard to improve conditions

there. only two weeks ago she was kidnapped in front of her daughter, as she was driving her to school in the morning. according to a report from a mexican newspaper. she was kidnapped on a busy street as terrified onlookers watched the scene unfold. the newspaper said she asked her captors not to harm he young child, who stayed behind crying hysterically. her body was found four days later. she switched political parties last year, deb, but mexican officials ruled out a political motive. also, at least two drug cartels are active around the state of michoacan but no one has claimed responsibility for her violent death. >> you know what's incredible is you would definitely think that she would have some sort of security around her. the bbc reported two dozen mayors have been killed in mexico since the recent drug war began six years ago. is there any sign the violence is easing up? or is it getting worse? and what are officials doing about it? >> well, the good news is that violence seems to be stabilizing

in some of the worst states hit by the violence. i'm talking about the border states. but where she died, the state of michoacan, is in western mexico, and it has been the scene of a turf war by two powerful mexican drug cartels, and that's the reason why you see the violence there. now, again, with violence stabilizing, the fact still remains, as you mentioned, more than two dozen mayors have been killed in the last two years, deb. >> cnn is also reporting that a beauty queen was killed in a shoot-out between mexican military troops and suspected criminals, happened in an area that was well-known for drug violence. what do you know about that? >> that's exactly right. you're talking about the mexican state of sinaloa, many people know that sinaloa is also the name of a powerful drug cartel, and this image here, that is maria susannah flores. she was only 20 years old when she was killed this weekend in a shoot-out between mexican military and hitmen. now we don't really know the circumstances surrounding her death. we only know, according to

mexican officials, what they say, is that she was with the men who who attacked the mekt can military and she ended up getting caught in the middle of the cross fire. and really don't know if she was involved with these men, or whether she was there some sort of kidnapping. >> all right. rafael romo thank u so much. just so tragic. people trying to live their lives and getting in so much violence and cross fire. thank you so much. >> horrific story. >> tragic. >> 15 minutes past the hour. time for your top stories now, with 35 days left until we reach that fiscal cliff the house returns for its lame duck session today. even though several top republicans say they're willing to break their no-tax vows to get a spending plan passed in time, there are still no scheduled talks with the white house. and a cleveland mother is now under arrest after her 3-year-old son's body was found wrapped in a plastic bag at a local waste treatment plant. police say 20-year-old camellia kerry reported her son missing

sunday. an autopsy is scheduled for today. camellia terry has two other children, and they have both been placed in the care of state child services. saudi arabia is now taking some heat from human rights activists over new electronic monitoring system that tracks the whereabouts of saudi women when they travel abroad. under saudi law, all women, regardless of age, must have a male guardian. saudi women travel, text messages are sent to their guardians, even if those men have not requested such notification. >> big brother watching a little bit, would seem? and rick santorum sounds like he may be thinking about another run for the white house. the former senator and presidential candidate telling cnn's piers morgan all options are on the table. >> i'm open to that possibility, but i -- we're a long way -- i'm focused right now on trying to stay involved in the fray and make sure that we do the right thing up on capitol hill right now. and also, that this debate in the republican party about what the future of the party and

where we're going to go, that we're going to be very active and engaged to make sure we stick to america's founding principles. >> former house speaker newt gingrich hasn't ruled out another bid for the presidency, either. he says he would consider running in 2016, such a long time away, if the gop makes big changes. >> right around the corner. and jill kelley is no longer honorary consul to south korea. the florida socialite in the middle of the david petraeus sex scandal has been stripped of that title after just three months. south korea's deputy foreign minister accusing her of trying to accuse the post for personal gain. and it is 5:17 in the morning. time for early read, your local news making national headlines. first a story in the central illinois where a tied dewitt county race was decided, yeah, you saw it, by a coin toss. and the winner, well he's not happy about it. he says he didn't want to win by gambling so he's refusing to take the nominal pay he gets for the job. the defeated incumbent, guess

what? he's not happy about it, either. he's looking into a recount. smoke on the water from hawaii's star advertiser. for the first time in about a year, lava from hawaii's kilauea volcano has reached the ocean. look at this really cool pictures for you. a local station reported some sightseers to the area to get a closer look. the guides, they warn against this, folks, saying a lava shelf may collapse. the last time someone died in a collapse and that was reportedly back in 1993. you've got to be really careful there. it's very cool to watch from a distance. >> exactly. head to our blog cnn.com/earlystart. >> and coming up, the biggest hits of cyber monday. the low tech and high tech products that topped them all. look at these teeth! they're made for meat! [ cat 2 ] do i look like i'm stalking plants? [ male announcer ] most dry foods add plant protein, like gluten but iams never adds gluten. iams adds 50% more animal protein, [ cat 3 ] look at this body!

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oecd said, quote, decisive policy action is needed to ensure that stalemate over fiscal policy in the united states and continuing euro area instability do not plunge the world back into recession. and, here in sandyland, many people have been in the dark for days. some for weeks, after superstorm sandy. and some are now getting power bills that show normal usage. the long island power authority is assuring customers, don't worry, the next actual meter reading will reflect how much you've used, and they'll adjust your bill, and i'm telling you, there are some lipa customers right now who are outraged. after all they've been through. >> as well they should be. >> they are getting electricity bills reflecting normal usage, and for many of them it's been days, some of them it's been weeks with no power. and bring you up to speed on cyber monday. what's your best guess on what people were out there buying? >> i would have thought apple products? >> yeah. had to be electronics. >> a lot of question about

electronics. monday sales up 28% from last year, according to the bench mark survey and the most searched-for items were amazon's kindle and kindle fire, uggs, ipads, the ipod touch, legos, and the wii. >> well, i like the legos. i mean, it's making a comeback. maybe children will actually do a thing besides touching screens with their hands. putting things together. >> that's a very good point. at the end of the day, is it because of the deals, right? >> it's because of the deals, you're right. i think that shows you america's priority, too. >> yes. >> electronics and some legos. >> i want to know where people are getting those apple products on sale. share that with me. >> i think a lot of them are searching for the products because they're interested in buying them but they're not necessarily getting them on sale. >> that's interesting. sort of advanced recon. doing their recon. >> 24 minutes past the hour. more than five years after her death, anna nicole smith's modeling legacy actually lives on.

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35 days and counting, until the fiscal cliff. there are signs of compromise from the gop. and cold, wet weather heads into the northeast. some areas expect to see a few inches of snow. biting the hand that feeds. one of hollywood's highest paid teens publicly rips the show

that has made him super rich. can't wait to share that story with you. welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm deborah feyerick in for john berman. it is 29 minutes past the hour. well, five weeks until we hit the fiscal cliff and one by one top republicans are stepping up to say they're ready to break their no-tax pledge and to get a spending plan passed. something that's not sitting too well with the man they made that pledge to, conservative lobbyist grover norquist. listen to norquist getting personal and lashing out at republicans on cnn's "piers morgan tonight." >> the pledge is not for life. but everybody who signed the pledge, including peter king, who tried to weasel out of it, shame on him, as the new york sun said today, i hope his wife understands that commitments last a little longer than two years or something. but you don't tell the bank, oh the mortgage, wasn't that a long time ago? if you make a commitment, you keep it. >> cnn political director mark

preston joins us live from washington. boy, mark, i just have so many questions. we were saying it's five weeks until we hit the fiscal cliff, or as i like to call it, the new year. we're looking at various compromises potentially, people now talking about simpson-bowles, a place we were at two years ago. is there a possibility of compromise now that we're this close to crunch time? >> well, the good thing deb is that two thirds of the american public, according to a new cnn poll, said that they are demanding compromise. and that republicans and democrats do come together. although yesterday we did see senate minority leader mitch mcconnell on the senate floor talking about one of the impasses. let's hear what he had to say. >> republicans have stepped out of our comfort zone, and yet we remain at an impasse. leading us to ask why. because a vocal minority on the hard left continues to argue to leaders of their party from the president on down that democrats in washington should do

absolutely nothing about short-term or long-term spending problems. >> and there you had mitch mcconnell on the senate floor yesterday. again, what we'll probably hear over the next 35 days, certainly coming out of capitol hill, will be a lot of strong hyperbole. the fact of the matter is they do have to reach some sort of a deal. >> when he says that they're willing to do nothing, i think is it fair to say that if the republicans have stepped out of their comfort zone that maybe each side is taking teeny-weeny baby steps toward the middle or is that an overstatement? >> i thk you're right on that. and the fact of the matter is there's going to have to be compromise on both parts. it's not just one party that can compromise. in fact, yesterday, during the white house briefing jay carney was asked specifically about what's happening with the fiscal cliff, and this is what he had to say. >> math tells us that you can't get the kind of balanced approach that you need without

having rates be part of the equation. it's simply -- we haven't seen a proposal that achieves that. a realistic proposal that achieves that. >> and there you had jay carney yesterday talking about tax rates there. that basically what it comes down to right now, republicans are going to be forced into a corner on whether or not they raise rates, tax rates, on the wealthy. let the bush tax cuts expire for those who are making over $250,000. and democrats are going to have to come to the table and perhaps give in on entitlement reform on medicare, medicaid, and some of these other programs that have really been sacrosanct to the democratic party. >> and just very quickly, mark, we're seeing a lot of public rhetoric, but there are talks, negotiations going on between the staffs of all these politicians in washington. is that pretty much how it works? we get the upfront and behind the scenes is where they do the real work? >> we'll show the photo-ops when we see president obama and the congressional leaders get together like we did on november 16th. really the hard work is done by the staff on capitol hill, and

from the white house. we saw that happen over the thanksgiving week. it was not as productive as some people had hoped. but, we are getting to the point right now, 35 days until the fiscal cliff, deb, and they have to reach an agreement. there's still plenty of time left for an agreement to be reached. we're not quite there, but we're getting close. >> mark preston for us. thanks so much. 32 minutes past -- 33 minutes past the hour. politicians on both sides saying that a deal to reduce america's debt will improve the economy and it will also create jobs. my next guest says that's not exactly the case, and it's important to know the difference here. derek thompson is senior editor at "the atlantic" and he joins me now. thanks for being with us now. we appreciate it. you compare the deficit to an insurance policy. you say it doesn't make you any richer in the short-term, but in the long-term, it is helpful. i want to actually put your statements up. you say let's agree to keep deficits very high for at least another year. and then let's buy an insurance policy against that debt crisis

when we can really afford it. so lots of republicans and democrats out there would disagree greatly with you. say that america's ability to pay its debt is really important. how would you respond to them? >> right. i do think that there's a thing that's taken place in washington deficit reduction will stimulate us to enormous growth in 2013. the fact is what deficit reduction is, is tax increases and spending cuts, both of which take economic activity out of the economy. so this really is extremely similar to insurance. if i buy, say, flood insurance. what i'm doing is i'm paying a short premium in the short-term, to protect my house in the long-term. that's exactly what deficit reduction is. we're paying a little bit while we're healthy to protect against the likelihood, the small or great likelihood, we might have a debt crisis later. but my feeling is that now, that the economy is weak, growing at 1.8% for the last 24 months,

we're not creating that many jobs, unemployment is still around 8%, the economy is still wheezing faintly. and when you're wheezing faintly, you need the strong medicine that high deficits offer. >> there's a lot of talk of the fear of the u.s. falling into the same hardships as europe. specifically greece. i want to play what senator lindsey graham had said about this. >> when you're $16 trillion in debt, the only pledge we should be making to each other is to avoid becoming greece. >> okay. here's what you said in your article. deficit reduction takes economic activity out of the economy. if you want to see what austerity does to a weak private sector, just look at europe. which policies do you think would turn us into europe? how would that happen to us? >> well, we're not going to become europe if we run a high deficit in the next year. that we know. the economy is weak, inflation is low, we're one of the best bets in the world. we borrow in our own currency, unlike greece. for all of these reasons we're not going to become greece

because of a debt crisis. but we can slip into a recession, the same way that greece and italy and other peripheral european states have slipped into recession, because they had to -- because austerity has been forced on them. they've had to see tax increases, and spending cuts, and we're seeing across europe what happens when you take economic activity out of an already weak economy. it's as if you lost your job, and suddenly had to pay extra in health insurance, pay extra in medicine. what you would see is less income, and more spending coming out of your pocket, and that would weaken your position. that's exactly what's happened to these european countries. and that's the real risk, austerity, not a debt crisis in the short-term. >> there are some analysts that are saying, you know, just let us fall off that fiscal cliff. that the congress is actually overhyping that threat. that the cuts are going to take quite a bit of time to actually settle in. how do you feel about that? >> right. i think the best way to think of the fiscal cliff is not as a

cliff or a slope or anything top graph cal. i would think of it like a flash diet. if you've been bingeing on deficits, the same way we have been, i think for good reason for some time because the economy has been weak, if you've been bingeing at some point you need to get on a diet. what the fiscal cliff is essentially is it's a flash diet. all of a sudden taxes go way up and spending goes way down. what happens when you enter a serious diet you don't announce that you're going to stop eating lunch and fall on your face immediately. rather the nourishment you're depriving yourself of slowly weakens you to a point where you grind to a halt. that, i think, is what will likely happen and that's what the cbo has said will happen in the first half of next year, we slowly enter rescission and then come out of it. i don't think we need to enter recession. i think we can make a deal in the short-term that preserves deficit reduction for the medium-term so that we'll be healthy in the next ten years. >> do you think that big compromise is going to come from the republicans? >> i'm not going to make a big

prediction. my hope is that the democrats, republicans, will come together. my sense is that congress doesn't do anything until they absolutely have to, and this is a situation where i think both sides do feel like they absolutely do have to come to a deal before january 2nd. >> all right, derek thompson, senior editor of the atlantic. thank you for your time this morning. in the next hour of "early start" we'll get an update on the chances of a fiscal cliff deal when we are joined by california democratic congresswoman max even waters. >> interesting to see what she has to say. and dangerous scene today in downtown sydney, australia. the cabin of a giant crane at a construction site burst into flames and the top part of the crane collapsed onto a nearby roof. incredibly, there were no reports or injuries, according to australian news organization. the empire state building is showing off its new look. new yorkers are used to seeing the empire state building illuminated in various colors for special occasions. but now the building has upgraded its lighting system.

gone are the old flood lights. they've been replaced by a state-of-the-art computerized system that can deliver all kinds of colors and effects. look at that. the new lights went on display for the first time last night. for your viewing pleasure there. >> i'm a little bit of a tradition traditionalist. i'm a little overstimulated just now. hollywood is buzzing today about anna nicole smith's 6-year-old daughter's new modeling campaign. like mother like daughter. daughter like mother. and the young star of tv's "two and a half men" who says fans should stop watching his show. both stories coming up. [ woman ] ring. ring.

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on the map. michelle turner is following big entertainment headlines from los angeles. is this the beginning of a big modeling career? >> you know, deb, it very well could be. at this stage people seem to be more concerned about 6-year-old dannielynn birkhead more than anything else. guess has put her in some ads which her father larry is saying was an homage to her mother. and larry's been quoted in a few different places say he doesn't see her stepping into her mother's shoes just yet. with this family, you know, at the very least a lot of people are raising their eyebrows over this. the ads themselves, they're very innocent. but what's a little unnerving is just how much she's starting to look like her mother, especially when she poses. now, guess says this is the first for them. they say that they're having a legacy model for them. and it's good traction, good marketing, because we're talking about it this morning, right? >> what's amazing, she really does look like her mom. unbelievable. >> yeah. >> wow, wow. listen, she got good genes there. and you're also following, this

is amazing, this "two and a half men" controversy. and this time it doesn't involve charlie sheen. >> imagine that. right? no charlie sheen when we're talking about a controversy with "two and a half men." this one is all about angus t. jones. he grew up playing jake harper on the show. he's now telling people not to watch "two and a half men." now he is apparently discovered religion in a very big way and he appeared in this video where he denounces the show, that actually made him famous. listen to this. >> man, please stop watching "two and a half men." i'm on "two and a half men." i don't want to be on it. please stop watching it. please stop filling your head with filth. >> -- surprising for fans of the show to see him talking about his faith, first of all, and that's so different from his character. now jones says in the video that he's actually still under contract with the show. we reached out to cbs for reaction to this. maybe a hint as to what the show's going to do now, and, of

course, they're being tight-lipped. they don't have any comment about this. the last time there was a controversy with the show, it led to charlie sheen's departure. but it didn't hurt the ratings because ashton kutcher took over and then everything seemed to go on as fine. but you know this morning, i have to think that jon cryier just has to be wondering what next? am i going to be the last man standing on this show? >> that's right. is he the only one who sees the value in his agent? oh, my goodness. >> probably. >> he's probably actually going to college next season. >> you know and if you watch the show over the years, you see him now, and you remember that little boy that started on the show, and you just say, wow, goodness. >> how they change. how they grow up. all right well nischelle turner, always great to see you. thanks so much. >> you, too. >> how much does he make per episode? >> i don't even want to think about it actually. >> unbelievable. >> that money is going to send his kids to college. >> too early for christmas but just in time to probably pes

with your travel plans today. coming up, cold, wet weather moves into the northeast. folks if you're leaving the house right now you can watch us any time on your desk top, mobile phone, go to cnn.com/tv. drum and flute" n look who's back. again? it's embarrassing it's embarrassing! we can see you carl. we can totally see you. come on you're better than this...all that prowling around. yeah, you're the king of the jungle. have you thought about going vegan carl? hahaha!! you know folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than antelope with night-vision goggles. nice! get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores.

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welcome back. 49 minutes past the hour. checking top stories, the house returns for its lame duck session today, and with 35 days left until we reach the fiscal

cliff, several top republicans say they're willing to break their no-tax pledge to get a spending plan passed in time. but house leaders still have no talks scheduled with the white house. u.n. am was door susan rice facing her critics on capitol hill today. she's meeting with three republican senators and they're going to discuss comments she made about the deadly attack in benghazi in the immediate aftermath of the incident. rice maintaining she made it clear the information she had at that time was only preliminary. and tragedy in northern california. police say three members of a family drowned while trying to save their dog, which got caught in rough surf. a 16-year-old boy was pulled under by all the powerful waves. his parents tried to save him, but did not survive, either. the dog eventually made it back to shore on its own. can you believe that story? >> heartbreaking. just heartbreaking. monday night football action in philadelphia, eagles and panthers, two of the worst teams in the nfl.

it was a big night for carolina panthers quarterback cam newton. he threw for two touchdowns, and ran two touchdowns in himself as he led the panthers to a 30-22 win over philly. eagles considerable michael vick, he sat out the game. he is still recovering from a recent concussion. do you live in the northeast? gloves, hats, for you. meteorologist alexandra steele in for rob marciano today. >> we've got a quick storm moving through. kind of a one-two punch. it will be an affair today but not tomorrow. waking up? maybe as the snow begins to come down, seeing some observations right now in the poconos. if you're there cuddling up you're seeing snow begin to fall. here's a look at the radar. of course the white delineating where the snow is. the little pink a mix of rain and snow. and the green is where the rain is. boston, new york, philadelphia, washington, all will see a mix of rain and snow today. but, not much in the way of accumulation in the big cities. it's really north and west. this is where kind of the stripe

of the big snow will be. relative, 1 to 3 inches of snow. harrisburg, allentown and then right here through about morristown, new jersey, that's where we'll see the snow throughout the day. accumulating 1 to 3 inches. we do have winter weather advisories. even west of western washington, garrett county, maryland, high elevations there. picking up about 2 to 4 inches. also in the south side of this storm, we do have some severe weather. we do have showers and thunderstorms, birmingham, a loud morning. you don't need your alarm clock. all that moving toward atlanta and new orleans, as well. so, one line of storms is snow to the north, it's rain, and thunder, to the south. it will all move through today. guys? >> all right. thank you, alexandra. 52 minutes past the hour. packed hour ahead on "early start" including 35 days left before we hit that fiscal cliff. and it's already weighing heavy on holiday shoppers' minds. we're going to chat with democratic congresswoman maxine waters from california. she serves on the financial services committee. and a poison pen.

details of a new weapon found on a failed north korean assassin. and getting a text that says your wife has just left the country. outrage over reports that saudi arabia is electronically tracking women. but first, after 100 years, have we found the smoking gun? is this a photo of the iceberg that sunk the 'n syncable "titanic"? take a look at that. ♪ [ male announcer ] you build a reputation by not breaking down. consider the silverado 1500 -- still the most dependable, longest-lasting full-size pickups on the road. and now we've also been recognized for lowest total cost of ownership -- based on important things, like depreciation, fuel, and maintenance costs. and now trade up to get a 2012 chevy silverado all-star edition with a total value of $9,000. from outstanding value to standing the test of time, chevy runs deep.

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and welcome back. it is 56 minutes after the hour. deb feyerick here along with zoraida sambolin taking a look

at the top cnn trends on the web this morning. >> that facebook privacy thing that's been clogging up your news feed. many facebook users have been facing a notice that their content is copyrighted. in response to the new facebook guidelines i hereby declare that my copy right is attached to all of my personal details, illustrations, comics, paintings and videos. the message is a host. facebook still owns you. this was all in reaction to facebook's announcement that it would no longer allow users to vote on changes to its privacy policies. so there you have it, folks. >> that's exactly right. you're going to give it away. >> you are giving it away. >> is this the iceberg that doomed the "titanic"? a rare original photo of the iceberg suspected of sinking the atlantic is going to be auctioned off next month. the auction house in new hampshire says the iceberg is eerily similar to the one that two "titanic" crew members drew in sketches.

experts claim the photo was taken on april 12th, 1912, just two days before the unsinkable ship went down, killing 1500 people. late night comedians are back on the air following the long holiday weekend. take a look. >> it's been a rough week for the white house turkey. as you know, president obama pardoned the white house turkey last week. now republicans want to know what it knows about benghazi. a little dicey there. what else? americans spent $59 billion shopping over thanksgiving weekend. $59 billion. yeah. now china's going hey, we thought you were broke. where's our money? what is that all about? and today, of course, is cyber monday. this is the biggest online shopping day of the year, which of course, makes tomorrow identity theft tuesday. big, big holiday. >> can you believe this? a christian college is suing the obama administration over its

health care law. yeah. they're citing the part in the bible where jesus refuses to heal a leper because it's a pre-existing condition. remember that part? the movie "lincoln" came in third at the box office this weekend. yeah. however experts agree it's still not lincoln's worst time at the theater. >> that's terrible to laugh at that. >> that's definitely a movie we have to see. el "early start" continues right now. will they break the pledge? some republicans now seem open to the idea of raising taxes in the face of the fiscal cliff. mystery in a west bank mausoleum. scientists taking a new look at yasser arafat's remains to see if he was poisoned. and mightier than the sword, indeed. a poison pen found on a failed north korean assassin. cnn with an exclusive look.

good morning, and welcome to "early start" i'm deborah feyerick in for john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. 6:00 a.m. in the east here. first, congress back in session and already bickering. america heads down the fiscal cliff in exactly five weeks. take a look at the time line, triggering painful spending cuts and tax hikes. several leading republicans signaling that they're willing to break their new tax hike pledge to get a spending deal passed in time. but when the lame duck senate returned yesterday, it sure sounded like politics as usual. >> the senate has spoken. president obama has spoken. he's promised he will not sign any bill that mortgages our future to pay for handouts to the wealthiest 2% of americans. i only hope house republicans have been listening. >> we've been responsible, even as we've remained firm on this point. no tax increases now for promised spending cuts that won't materialize later. >> cnn's political director mark

preston is live from washington this morning. good morning to you, mark. so the house gets back in session today. and so far there are no talks scheduled between top republicans and the president. >> that's true, zoraida. we haven't seen the president and congressional leaders actually meet since november 16th when they all went down to the white house and there was a bit of a kumbayah moment where they thought they could reach agreement. since then staff members from the white house and democrats and republicans on capitol hill have been talking all through the thanksgiving weekend. they haven't reached any sort of deal at this point. in fact, they haven't been as productive in talks as some would have hoped. i have to tell you, though, we do know that president obama did reach out to john boehner, the republican house speaker, on saturday, as well as reaching out to senate majority leader harry reid on saturday, perhaps to help jump-start the talks. but in addition to that, zoraida, we do know this now, that president obama is going to start meeting with folks who are going to be affected by the

fiscal cliff. he'll be meeting with small business owners today at the white house. tomorrow he'll be meeting with middle-class americans who will be affected by the tax cut. on friday we'll be going to pennsylvania to visit a small company. so, as well we talked about the goodwill that might exist between democrats and republicans to try to get something done. we're also now seeing a pressure campaign put on by the white house. >> and we've seen some major republicans come out and say they don't feel bound by the americans for tax reform pledge. most recently we have house majority leader eric cantor. do you believe that any more republicans will stick with this jump on board? >> well, zoraida, you know, republicans are certainly being clicked into a box at this point. in order to try to solve the fiscal cliff a lot of people are saying we're going to have to see tax cuts get raised. president obama and democrats would like to see that just on democrats alone. republicans, as you said, are starting to peel away from that pledge. however grover norquist is threatening those who do so. let's hear what he had to say.

>> no pledge taker has voted for a tax increase. you've had some people discussing impure thoughts on national television. the pledge is not for life but everybody who signed the pledge, including peter king who tried to weasel out of it, shame on him as the new york sun said today, i hope his wife understands that commitments last a little longer than, than, than two years or something. >> there you had grover norquist from the americans for tax reform who has spearheaded this no tax pledge. the fact of the matter is, zoraida, to reach an agreement there's going to have to be compromise, whether that means increasing taxes on some, whether that means changing entitlement reform, both sides are going to have to come to the table to try to reach an agreement. >> mark, can you remind folks how long ago that pledge was signed? >> this goes back years and years and years for many of these lawmakers in congress. they tend to be conservative. it's a very simple pledge. it says that you agree not to raise any taxes when you are in

office. and grover norquist, who is a conservative activist here in town, has been very uk successful in getting republicans to sign onto this agreement. >> but it's interesting, the public shaming that he's doing now. very interesting. mark preston live for us in washington, thank you. in the next half hour, we'll get an update on the chances of a fiscal cliff deal when we are joined by california's democratic congresswoman maxine waters. ambassador susan rice heads to capitol hill this morning to mend fences with three republican senators. she angered john mccain, lindsey graham and kelly ayotte for her initial comments made on several tv networks that seemed to play down the role of al qaeda terrorists on the attack in benghazi, libya. that attack killed four americans, including u.s. ambassador chris stevens. rice maintains that she made it very clear, the intelligence information she had at the time was preliminary. senators are threatening to block her nomination if president obama chooses her to be his next secretary of state. president obama and vice president joe biden will meet

with mexico's president-elect today. pena kneeate toe has a new message. in an editorial in "the washington post" he said the u.s./mexico relations need to go beyond drugs and security concerns. topping his list, deepening economic ties with the united states. the remains of former palestinian leader yasser arafat were exhumed this morning from a mausoleum in the west bank. many palestinians believe that arafat was poisoned by israel when he died in 2004. now, an international team of scientists will analyze tissue samples to see if they contain any traces of a radioactive substance. the actual cause of arafat's death was never determined. the egyptian people taking to the streets to mourn the death of a 16-year-old activist. and to voice their opposition to president mohamed morsi and the muslim brotherhood.

this ireport showing protesters as they carried the teenager's casket through tahrir square to a cemetery. moresy's edict that the supreme court cannot overturn decisions he's made since coming into office in june or over the next six months is meeting a lot of resistance. one opponent saying it can only lead to a dictatorship. morsi insists, however, that he is trying to protect egypt's fragile arab spring revolution, not accumulate unchecked power, and that it is just temporary. >> if you're traveling through the northeast today, you might be dealing with some snow. alexandra steele is in for rob marciano. a little bit chillier? >> yeah, we've got the cold air in place. the moisture that's a recipe for rain or snow. a one-day affair, you can see this right now, all pushing eastward. the white delineating snow, of course, the pink showing you where it's a mix of rain and snow, and then there's the rain, really washington points south. we're going to see it, kind of a

stripe of about 1 to 3 inches of snow, and it's west of the big city. so boston, new york, philadelphia, washington, we'll see some rain/snow mix but no real accumulations. although could see about an inch potentially in new york city. but that's it. harrisburg to scranton, allentown, and right here to morristown, new jersey, that's kind of the stripe where we could see about 1 to 3 inches. there are the winter weather add viedries. and even for garrett county, maryland, west of washington and the higher elevations. 2 to 4 inches of snow for you. also on the south side of this snowmaker, it's a rainmaker. look at birmingham, waking up to a loud noise. you've got lightning coming through, and it's all coming toward atlanta. so birmingham, montgomery, atlanta, kind of a slow go. this morning in birmingham, and later this morning into the early afternoon in washington. atlanta, georgia, will be quite slow. and new orleans, look at what's heading towards you. so the gulf coast, but, again, all the way from boston to new orleans, and in florida today will be the wet day. big picture. there's the snow, going to watch

it here in the southeast. but other than that, pretty quiet across the balance of the country, guys. but in the pacific northwest, you've got one, two, three storms. so just a major kind of train of storms moving in for the next six, seven days. >> my kids saw some flurries the other day and they were like, snow! >> it was on thanksgiving. >> we don't like it. they love it. thank you, dalexandra, appreciae it. eight minutes after the hour, she was a courageous woman who cheated death before. coming up the brave former mayor of mexico who stood up to drug cartels. she was found dead. we will have her story. if you think running a restaurant is hard, try running four. fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business.

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11 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "early start." we are learning more today about a fearless mexican woman. the former mayor of a small town. she stood up to violent drug traffickers in her country, even though her body was riddled with bullet wounds from two assassination attempts. sadly 36-year-old maria santos gorrostieta was driving two weeks ago with her young daughter when she was ambushed and abducted. the daily mail reports even as she was being dragged away that she begged her assailants to spare her child. days later her battered body was found. we are joined by rafael romo, cnn's senior latin american affairs editor. good morning to you. what else can you tell us about this tragic story. >> good morning, zoraida. she was kidnapped on a busy street during the morning rush hour as terrified onlookers watched the scene unfold. maria santos gorrostieta was driving her young daughter to school as they were stopped. the 36-year-old former mayor was taken away by force as her

daughter cried hysterically. mexican officials say when the body was found her hands were tied behind her back. body also showed signs of a severe blow to the back of her head. maria santos gorrostieta was also a medical doctor, mayor of the small community of from 2008 to 2011. this was the third time she was the victim of an attack. in 2009 her husband was shot and killed. but she survived serious gunshot wounds. after her second attack in january of 2010, she was defiant. i will rise up again as many times as god allows me to so that i can keep on seeking, fighting for, and working out plans, projects and actions for the benefit of the people, especially those most in need. she said, then, she survived by her three children and her second husband. zoraida? >> rafael, this is pretty brazen. you told us that she was kidnapped on a busy street during the morning rush hour,

terrified onlookers. the bbc is reporting that two dozen mayors have been killed in mexico since the recent drug war began six years ago. is this getting worse? >> it's a mixed picture for mexico, zoraida. on the one hand you have violence stabilizing in northern mexican states, including chihuahua, where we see a spike of murders in the years 2007 to 2010. but you have situations like the one we're witnessing here in the state of michoacan. that's the scene of a turf war between two very powerful mexican drug cartels and that probably has to do a little bit about what happened to this mayor. >> there's another tragic story. cnn is reporting a beauty queen was killed in a shoot-out between mexican military troops and suspected criminals. it happened in an area well known for drug violence. what can you tell us about that? >> that's right. you're talking about maria susanna flores gamez. she is miss sinaloa 2012.

sinaloa is the home state of a very powerful mexican drug cart cartel. when she was found this week, she was dead after a shoot-out between the mexican military, and hitmen who may or may not have been involved with the cartel. authorities don't really know whether she was part of that criminal group or whether she was just caught in the cross fire. zoraida? >> tragedy nonetheless. rafael romo live for us. thank you for that. we appreciate it. it's quarter past the hour. time for your top stories. just under 35 days and counting until we go over the fiscal cliff. and the house returns from the holiday break to begin its lame duck session today. several top republicans say they're willing to break their no tax vows to get a spending plan passed in time. but, there's still no scheduled talks at the white house. in a warning we have some graphic images to show you. an alabama teenager is now facing charges, accused of brutally assaulting his sister's girlfriend at a thanksgiving dinner. the victim's family is calling

it a hate crime and they want prosecutors to add that to the assault charges that are already filed against 18-year-old travis hawkings jr. 23-year-old mallory owens' injuries required facial reconstruction surgery. she's dating his sister ali. saudi arabia's electronic monitoring system for women who travel outside the country is attracting the attention of human rights activists. the system was introduced in 2010. under saudi law, all women, regardless of age, must have a male guardian. saudi women travel, text messages are sent to their guardians, even if those men have not requested the notifications. and just released 911 tapes revealing more about the chaos and the carnage during last week's thanksgiving day pileup on i-10. this is in texas, folks. cloudy conditions caused about 140 cars and trucks to collide. you're seeing that there. listen to two of the crash victims crying out for help.

>> they have a major accident over here. cars, 18 wheelers and everything. i don't know where we are the fog is thick. >> please get on i-10. >> ma'am, we've got them coming, okay? >> things are still hitting me. >> we've got them coming. >> another collision -- >> ma'am, they're en route, okay? >> okay. >> all right. >> oh, my goodness. two people were killed in that pileup. 90 others had to be rushed to the area hospitals. a dangerous scene today in downtown sydney, australia. the cabin of a giant crane at a construction site burst into flames, and the top part of the crane collapsed on a nearby roof. incredibly, there was no reports of injuries according to australian news organizations. the empire state building is showing off its new look. new yorkers are used to seeing the empire state building illuminated in various colors for special occasions. but now, the building has upgraded its lighting system. take a look at that.

gone are the old flood lights. they've been replaced by a state-of-the-art computerized system that can deliver all kinds of colors and effects. the new lights went on display for the first time last night. folks here are upset. they like tradition. they want it to go back to the way it was. i like it. >> it's kind of like a new pair of shoes. i'm not quite sure they fit yet. and jill kelley has been stripped of her title as honorary consul to south korea. the florida socialite in the middle of the david he petraeus sex scandal held the post for just three months. the south korean foreign minister accusing kelley of trying to use the position for personal gain. now a cnn exclusive. weapons that james bond would actually be proud of. south korean officials unveiling the weapons they found on a north korean assassin who was arrested on the streets of seoul last year and it's something straight out of a james bond movie. listen like this poison-filled needle disguised as a parker ball point pen. a few twists, a simple click, can kill.

take a look at the flashlight. it's really a handgun. listen to a south korean investigator telling our paula hancocks about them. >> these weapons are not new in north korean spies have had this technology for about ten years. but this flashlight is new. never seen this weapon before. if you look at the front, there are three holes. there was a bullet in each hole and here is the trigger. this is currently loaded and dangerous. >> all right. so south korea says the assassins' intended target was this month, north korean defector and activist park sang-hok. he's now under around the clock police protection. >> >> hear it all the time. book your travel early to save. but that's not always the case. what happens if the price drops after you've booked? there are ways to make sure you get your money back if this happens and that brings us to today's road warriors. >> you might want to consider booking your hotel room through

tingo. for flights you might want to dry yapta.com. if the fare goes down they'll send you an e-mail and show you how to claim your refund. >> and if you book directly with the airline you can also request a refund. and while airlines do have different refund policies most will offer a refund in the form of a voucher for future travel. just make sure that you read the fine print before you book. >> and lastly, travel sites like orbitz or expedia will give you a company credit if another traveler books the same flight or hotel at a lower rate. but there are limitations, though. again, check that fine print. it is 20 minutes past the hour. they didn't get power for weeks, but they did get a bill. a utility company doing some explaining. coming up. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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get selsun blue for itchy dry scalp. strong itch-fighters target scalp itch while 5 moisturizers leave hair healthy. selsun blue. got a clue? get the blue. good morning to you. welcome back, 23 minutes past the hour. christine romans is minding all of our business this morning. >> good morning. stocks are looking probably flat right now. stock futures, a lot of information today to work on. key reports on durable goods, home prices, consumer confidence. i'm expecting the home price number to show another increase year over year in home prices. so that's important for the u.s. economy. european markets, they're higher this morning after officials there agreed on bailout terms for greece late last night. that's where we stand this morning. meantime, many people have been in the dark for days. some for weeks after superstorm sandy. and some, some are now getting

power bills that are showing normal usage. the long island power authority is assuring customers that the next actual meter reading will reflect how much power they've used. and of course, then their bills will be adjusted. some lipa customers are outraged. because, after all they've been through, now they're getting an electricity bill that shows usage that is phantom usage. there's no way some of those people -- and it's just kind of an insult. meantime cyber monday sales up 28% from last year. that's according to the benchmark survey so the numbers are in here and experian marketing services are saying the most searched for items were amazon's kindle and kindle fire, ugg shoes, ipads, the ipod touch, legos, and the wii. >> the wii is still in there. >> i know. kind of a snapshot of what's important in america. one thing you need to know about your money. the housing market is healing. we're going to get a batch of new data today. one of those reports expected to

show home prices rose another 3% in september. >> and where? >> i always ask that question. are we all recovering? or is it strategic? >> all real estate is local. so it depends on where you live. that's 20 city gauge that we'll get. that will be able to break down for you. how about tomorrow, we break down exactly where that is? >> thank you, appreciate that. >> are those gains just over what the fall was? or is that gains to get up to where we were? >> oh, yeah we got a long way to go -- >> but -- >> years to get back to the top. we're not falling anymore. that's good. >> all right. excellent. christine romans, thanks so much. more than five years after her death, anna nicole smith's modeling legacy lives on. coming up, see her young daughter in a starring role. and if you're leaving the house right now, of course you can watch us any time on your desk top or your mobile phone just go to cnn.com/tv. now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. now why make a flavored heartburn pill?

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35 days and counting until the fiscal cliff. and there are signs of compromise from the gop. cold, wet weather heads into the northeast. some areas will see a few inches of snow. biting the hand that feeds. one of hollywood's highest paid teens publicly rips a show that made him rich. welcome back to "early start." i'm deb feyerick in for john berman. >> really nice to have you this morning. thank you. i'm zoraida sambolin. 30 minutes past the hour. we have just under 35 days and counting until we hit the fiscal cliff and several top republicans say they are ready to revoke their no tax pledge to get a spending plan passed. that's not sitting well with the man they made that pledge too, conservative lobbyist grover norquist. listen to norquist, naming names and getting really personal on cnn's "piers morgan" last night. >> the pledge is not for life. but everybody who signed the pledge, including peter king,

who tried to weasel out of it, shame on him as the new york sun said today, i hope his wife understands that commitments last a little longer than, than two years or something. but you don't tell the bank oh, the mortgage, wasn't that a long time ago? if you make a commitment you keep them. >> cnn political director mark preston joins us live from washington. and mark the house is back in session today. how much compromise can we really expect now that we have reached this serious crunch time? >> well, zoraida, we're not going to see any compromise today. we will not see any compromise tomorrow. and we're likely not going to see any compromise for about a week. we will start to see some republicans, as we've seen so far, start to tick away from the pledge, the no tax pledge that they made to americans for tax reform. fact of the matter is there's 35 days for republicans and democrats to come together to get some kind of a deal. the fact of the matter is, things don't necessarily happen here in washington unless there's an extremely large amount of pressure that is put

on the folks on capitol hill and down at the white house to get something done. >> so so far there are no talks scheduled between top republicans and the president. what's the latest from the white house? >> what we know right now is that president obama has reached out to house speaker john boehner the republican and the majority leader harry reid the democrat. the staff have been talking over the thanksgiving recess. the talks have not been as fruitful as some people had hoped. but they are starting to talk right now publicly about where the white house stands on this whole issue of raising taxes. this is what jay carney had to say yesterday. >> math tells us that you can't get the kind of balanced approach that we need without having rates be part of the equation. it's simply -- we haven't seen a proposal that achieves that. a realistic proposal that achieves that. >> you have the white house spokesman jay carney yesterday

talking about raising rates on the wealthy. this is something that's a sticking point for many republicans. in order to reach compromise, though, zoraida, democrats are going to have to come to the table and talk about reforming entitlements such as medicare and medicaid. and the white house, of course, is going to continue to try to put pressure on republicans to agree to tax increases. now, zoraida, let me just add to this, while there is talk about democrats and republicans, president obama getting together to reach a compromise, we are starting to see some kind of campaign now being launched by the white house. today, we will see president obama meet with small business owners at the white house. the rest of the week, he'll also be having meetings with middle class folks who will be affected by this fiscal cliff. if it's not fixed, then on friday, he heads up to pennsylvania to go to a toy company to talk about why congress, why the white house, why here in washington needs to resolve the fiscal cliff. >> all right, mark preston live for us in washington. thank you.

>> let's talk more about this now with congresswoman maxine waters. she's a democrat from california. she serves as chief deputy minority whip and is also on the financial services and judiciary committees. thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> you're welcome. >> listen, first of all we want to talk about senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. he's accusing the democrats of not being willing to compromise. take a quick listen. >> republicans have stepped out of our comfort zone, and yet we rem remain at an impasse. leading us to ask why. because a vocal minority on the hard left continues to argue to leaders of their party from the president on down, that democrats in washington should do absolutely nothing about short-term or long-term spending problems. >> so congresswoman he says that the republicans are outside their comfort zone. are democrats also out of their comfort zone? is everything on the table? not just medicaid and medicare, but also obama care?

>> the president has made it abundantly clear that he's prepared to compromise if, in fact, the republicans understand that we have to raise taxes on the richest 1% or so in this country. they're not willing to do that. basically, what they're saying is, we can, you know, get the resources that we need, the revenue, rather, that we need, by closing loopholes, and some reforms. but they're not willing to deal with the tax rates. that's a no starter. we have to have all of those tax cuts that were afforded to them by the bush administration on the table. we've got to increase those tax rates. and so they don't have a credible proposal on the table and we are, and the president is willing to compromise and to talk about cuts and

discretionary spending. if, in fact, we can get started with understanding we have to have the revenue in order to have a credible compromise. >> well, at the same time, though, when you talk about a credible proposal, both sides probably think that their proposals are the ones that are credible. if the republicans are willing to take a couple of steps towards the middle, why not the democrats? why not say, well here's what we are willing to shave, because if you say, well, show me yours before i show you mine, nobody's going to get anywhere. >> well, as a matter of fact, we have not seen the republicans come with a credible proposal willing to do anything. they are, many of them are still bound by the norquist pledge that they made. we see a few talking about perhaps stepping away from it. but the fact of the matter is glover norquist has challenged them and basically called peter king a weasel for even talking

about compromising with that tax proposal. so you haven't seen any credible proposal from the republicans willing to step forward to deal with the revenue issue. >> what's interesting, and we talk about grover norquist, basically saying, no taxes. no taxes. but now simpson bowl, the republican and the democrat, two years ago they came up with a plan, it is now being talked about again. this is two years later. all these issues have been on the table for a very long time. so what is the hold up? is there still this intransigence that nobody can get past? >> well the real holdup in my estimation is this -- you cannot talk about dealing with our deficit, you cannot talk about how you run this country without talking about credible revenue. and if, in fact, you want to continue to give tax breaks to the richest people in this

country, then you can't get started with a credible proposal for compromise. you've got to start there. and when that is done, then you can talk about entitlement and what can you do with a credible proposal to reduce entitlements? but you can't do that until you talk about how you're going to fund a defense and not increase revenue. with the cliff that we're faced with, we're talking about maybe a 50% reduction in the defense department, and so, you have to talk about how you're going to pay for all of this. >>, and lastly, it was so interesting, we're talking about fiscal cliff. we're talking about an avalanche. we're talking about an austerity problem. this is very strong language, very scary words. >> yes. >> the american public is not going to accept anything short of some sort of a compromise. are those words sort of floated out there something to manage expectations, possibly? >> well, you know, the press has

basically coined the fiscal cliff and promoted the idea of this catastrophic position that the congress finds itself in. i think that what the public is looking for is they're looking for reasonable, sensible legislators to talk about what is possible. they're looking for both sides to be willing to compromise. but one thing we know for sure, the president has a mandate. the people have spoken, and they have said they want everybody to pay their fair share of taxes. they don't want the middle class and working people to have to bear the burden of the cost of government, without the very, very rich paying their fair share. and that is at the top of this agenda. and it has to be dealt with. >> okay. congressman maxine waters, the democrat from california. thank you so much. we appreciate it. >> you're welcome. thank you. >> 39 minutes past the hour. too early for christmas. but just in time to possibly mess with your travel plans today.

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guess who's here? john berman is joining us with a look at what's ahead on "starting point." >> great to see you guys this morning. you've been talking about the fiscal cliff. the high-level negotiations ramping up as both sides of the aisle trying to reach some kind of deal before your taxes go up january 1st. and they will go up if there's no deal. we're going to talk to the people at the center of the discussions right now. pennsylvania senator pat toomey. maryland congressman chris van hollen. they were on the super committee that failed to reach a deal a year ago.

and utah senator mike lee. plus u.n. ambassador susan rice meeting with three of her sharpest critics today on capitol hill to explain her description of the benghazi attack. could this remove the opposition to her possible cabinet nomination? could that be pommes coming as early as this week? and i hear we have a special guest coming. n nascar's danica patrick is going from the racetrack to the virtual world of video games. danica patrick is going to be here. >> i'd like to race in her car. >> yeah, yeah. >> can you pull that off for me? >> i'll see what i can do. i'll put in a good word for you. >> all right, john berman, thanks so much. look forward to watching you. in the northeast, meteorologist alexandra steele is in for rob marciano. it's going to be a quick hit, right? >> that's right. quick hit. john mentioned some virtual play. we had virtual snow in the

meteorological world, verg ga, snow that falls into a dry atmosphere so we don't see it. it moistened up the atmosphere and in new jersey we've got snow. teterboro, flurries. new jersey, temperatures 28 and snow falling there. just began but we are going to see a quick hitter. the white, of course, delineating where the snow is. south of washington, d.c. rain. and we will see some snow in virginia, as well. but here is pennsylvania, pretty much this is the access where we could see the biggest accumulations. maybe one to three inches for a stripe of snow from harrisburg to allentown. and right here towards morristown, new jersey and south of scranton. you can see the dark white, that's where the heaviest bands of snow may line up. 1 to 3 inches. west of north washington we could see in west virginia, maybe two to four inches of snow. from the south side of this, rain and storm. look at birmingham, atlanta, about to get hit. so a slow go at the airports later this afternoon for you. new orleans, here comes the

rain. so really, kind of a very tough 95 corridor here into the southeast today. most of the country, guys, dry, other than the eastern seaboard. and the northwest, kind of where we've seen storm after storm, next seven days we're going to see kind of a barrage of storms move in. so pretty active there. >> alexandra steele live for us. thank you very much. 45 minutes past the hour. time for your top stories this morning. the body of former palestinian leader yasser arafat was exhumed this morning from a mausoleum in the west bank. a team of forensic scientists will now analyze tissue samples in an attempt to determine if arafat was poisoned when he died back in 2004. and a dangerous scene today in downtown sydney, australia. the cabin of a giant crane at a construction site burst into flames, and the top part of the crane collapsed. >> that's crazy. >> on a nearby roof. oh, my gosh. incredibly there were no reports of injuries according to australian news organizations. and after holding the title for three months, jill kelley is no longer honorary consul to south korea.

the florida socialite in the middle of the david petraeus sex scandal has been stripped of that post. south korea's deputy foreign minister accusing her of trying to use the title for personal gain. >> hmm. well this week's monday night football game featured the eagles and panthers. two of the worst teams in the nfl. it was a big night for carolina panthers quarterback cam newton. he threw for two touchdowns and ran two touchdowns in himself as he led the panthers to a 30-22 win over philly. eagles quarterback michael vick sat out the game. he's still recovering from a recent concussion. >> take a look at this. smoke on the water. for the first time in about a year, lava from hawaii's kilauea volcano reaches the ocean. a local station reported some skiegt seers hiked to the area to get a closer look. guides say don't do that. they say a lava shelf may collapse and put people in danger. folks have actually died trying to take a closer look.

>> running towards lava not on my wish list. scott kelly is preparing to spend a full year in space. the first u.s. astronaut ever to do so. he's going to help nasa collect information about the long-term effects of space flight on humans. kelly and a russian cosmonaut are due to go up to the international space station in 2015 and return the following year. scott kelly is the twin brother of astronaut mark kelly, and brother-in-law of former arizona representative gabby giffords. >> i was just looking at him saying, boy, they look a lot alike. >> that's why. >> look at this. the empire state building is showing off its brand-new look. new yorkers are used to seeing the empire state building illuminated in various colors. this is all for special occasions. but now the building has upgraded its lighting system. gone are the old floodlights and they have been replaced by a state-of-the-art computerized system that can deliver all kinds of colors and cool effects. the new lights went on display for the first time last night. deb is not a fan. >> not yet.

i'm a purist. >> you'll get there. >> i'd like to know which light, why, there's got to be a purpose. watt waiting for blue for hanukkah, green for christmas. >> hollywood is buzzing today about anna nicole smith's 6-year-old daughter's new modeling campaign that she has. and the young star of tv's "two and a half men" who says, fans, stop watching the show. why? we're going to have both stories coming up. ruit, something this delicious could only come from nature. now from the maker of splenda sweeteners, discover nectresse. the only 100% natural, no-calorie sweetener made from the goodness of fruit. the rich, sweet taste of sugar. nothing artificial. ♪ it's all that sweet ever needs to be. new nectresse. sweetness naturally.

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welcome back to "early start." 52 minutes past the hour. like mother like daughter. anna nicole smith's 6-year-old daughter is following in her late mother's footsteps. she is modeling in an ad

campaign for guess now. dannielynn birkhead is working for the same fashion label that put her mom on the map. is she serious about a career in modeling. nischelle turner has all the answers for us. what is this all about? >> you know, zoraida, i'm not sure how serious any 6-year-old is about anything unless it's one of their favorite characters. >> the dad. >> yeah, that's the big question. her father larry is saying that these guess ads that she is in are an homage to her mother. you know, guess says it's a first for them, having a legacy modeling for them. and it's good traction. good marketing, because we're talking about it, right? the ads are actually very innocent. they're very charming. so she may actually have a future in front of the camera. but as charming as this story can be, there's a lot of people who remember how her mother couldn't keep it together in the public eye, and they worry if this could happen to this little girl, who looks so much like her mom. although i saw an article in the new york daily news where her dad says, dannielynn wants to be

either a doctor, a birthday cake baker or the owner of an ice cream truck. so i don't know if her profession has been decided on just yet. >> also got a nice handle on her, as well. which is good to see. you're also following this really bizarre story, "two and a half men" it's a controversy. tell us about that. because i find it mind boggling. >> yeah, daeflg. this is all about angus t. jones who grew up playing jake harper on the show. he's telling people not to watch "two and a half men." he's one of the highest paid child actors on television. he appeared in this video where he denounced the show that made him rich and famous. >> dude, if you watch "two and a half men" please don't watch two and a half men. i'm on two and a half men, i don't want to be on it. please stop watching it. please stop filling your head with filth. >> you know, it's a little bizarre. jones goes on the video saying he doesn't want to contribute to the, quote, enemy's plan, by being on the show and he doesn't

think he can be a christian and be on a show like "two and a half men." we reached out to cbs for a reaction, and maybe some little hint as to what the show is going to do, they had no comment at this time. but, here's something you can read between the lines at. his character is in the army now on the show, so, if something happens, maybe jake harper could be shipping out. and last hour you guys did ask a question, how much does he make per episode? >> yes. >> i did a little research. and in 2010 he signed a deal for $7.9 million for two seasons. that's 26 episodes. >> oh, my goodness. >> he also got a $500,000 signing bonus. so if you do the rough math it adds out to about $300,000 per episode. >> so i suppose he could afford to say don't watch. >> that's exactly right. >> and he may get his wish come true, also. nischelle turner live for us. thank you very much. >> all right. today's best advice coming up. ure valley granola bars, rich dark chocolate, toasted oats. perfect combinations of nature's delicious ingredients, from nature valley. ♪

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we wrap it up as always with best advise. >> we asked anne frank's cousin about the best advice he's ever received. >> when anne frank's mention to the world is humanism. peace between mankind. no matter what religion, no matter what nationality, no matter what color of skin. she wanted peace all over the world. no more wars. no more fighting. no more religious fighting against each other. peace. that was anna's message in the world. >> that's a nice note to end it on. >> very nice. that's it for "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and seem d